Tomb Of Doom: Grave Of Pharaoh Ramses’ Sacrifice Priest Unearthed

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By Joseph Golder, Zenger News

An ancient Egyptian tomb belonging to a royal scribe who was in charge of sacrifices under Pharaoh Ramses II has been discovered.

The discovery took place at the Saqqara Necropolis, a huge burial ground for pharaohs and other important people, in Giza near the capital, Cairo, in northern Egypt.

The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a statement that the tomb of Batah-M-Woya, who was the head of the treasury in the era of King Ramses II, has been discovered by a Cairo University team chaired by Ola Al-Ajiz.

The statement said that Batah-M-Woya also held the position of “head of the divine clerics in the temple of Ramses II” in charge of sacrifices to deities at the temple of Ramses II in Thebes.

A look at the entrance to the tomb of Batah-M-Woya during excavation work at the Saqqara Necropolis in Giza, Egypt. (Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities/Zenger)

The tomb was unearthed in an area that also houses the final resting places for other important people in the New Kingdom (1550 B.C. to 1070 B.C.), including that of Pharaoh Horemheb, who ruled Egypt from 1319 B.C. to 1292 B.C. He was also a notable military commander.

Archeologists so far have uncovered the entrance of Batah-M-Woya,’s tomb, which leads to a hall full of drawings that depict scenes of ritual processions featuring offerings for the gods.

Professor Ahmed Rajab, the head of the Faculty of Archeology at Cairo University, said experts had been digging at Saqqara since the 1970s.

 Human remains unearthed at the Kom al-Khaljan archeological site in the Nile Delta province of Dakahlia, Egypt. (Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities/Zenger)
One of the ancient burial tombs with human remains uncovered in the Kom al-Khaljan archeological site, in the Nile Delta province of Dakahlia, Egypt. (Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities/Zenger)

In April, it was announced that archeologists had also discovered more than 100 ancient tombs, some of which are at least five millennia old, at another site in northern Egypt. The 110 tombs were unearthed at the Kom al-Khaljan archaeological site in Egypt’s Dakahlia Governorate in the Nile Delta region.

Among the graves are 68 oval-shaped tombs, which have been dated back to Egypt’s Predynastic era from 6000 to 3150 B.C.

Thirty-seven rectangular tombs were also found at the site and are believed to be from the Second Intermediate Period from 1650 B.C. to 1550 B.C. when the Hyksos people of West Asia ruled the country.

More than one hundred ancient burial tombs were unearthed at the Kom al-Khaljan archeological site, in the Nile Delta province of Dakahlia, Egypt. (Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities/Zenger)
One of the artifacts discovered at an ancient burial tomb unearthed in the Kom al-Khaljan archeological site in the Nile Delta province of Dakahlia, Egypt. (Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities/Zenger)

The remaining tombs are oval-shaped and have been dated to the Naqada III or Protodynastic Period from 3200 B.C. to 3000 B.C., a time when the Egyptian language was first recorded in hieroglyphs.

Some of the tombs uncovered still contained the remains of adults and children as well as grave goods and pottery items.

Edited by Richard Pretorius and Kristen Butler

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